Back in the day, I participated in a lot of greeting card and ATC (Artist Trading Cards) exchanges, most of which had themes. A common theme, for the ATCs at any rate, was the alphabet. You’d sign up for the exchange, giving the swap coordinator the letters you wanted to use. Hardly anyone ever wanted letters like Q and X. But for one swap, I actually volunteered to created a card for the letter X.
What was I thinking?! Ok, I was thinking, “I’m an English major! I love words! I can do this!” Of course, I wasn’t going to use something lame like “x-ray” (besides, this was about using rubber stamps, and I didn’t have any stamps of bones). So I scoured my dictionaries (everyone has six, right?) and found this delightful and delicious word: xerophyte. Doesn’t it just trip off your tongue? Xerophyte!
If you’re from out west and have xeriscaped your yard, you can probably guess what a xerophyte is. For the rest of you… it’s a plant adapted for growth under dry conditions; desert plants. And, ah ha! Don’t you know I just happen to have several stamps of cacti!
And so I present to you X is for Xerophytes!
X is for Xerophytes Ā© Kelly Naylor 2006
Very, very creative š I wouldn’t have been able to come up with a word like that, not even in Dutch, lol. I like the result. š
Nanda… Thanks for dropping by! Coming up with that word wasn’t easy. I went through my English, German, Spanish and Irish dictionaries… that’s the best I came up with. I’m never volunteering for X again!
But it was fun! I lived “out west” for ten years, and miss it… so cacti made me feel warmer.
How very interesting to come across the blog of such a nice lady–one who thinks even cacti can be an artistic exression rather than simply prickly nuisances; how I envy your artistic vision! And, yes, I have many times scraped off the crud and covered the bare ground with various rocks and stones (the “plants” seem to just “come up” on their own)–I just didn’t know I was Xeriscaping at the time! Stamp my forehead with a big X. Or, better yet a cactus. I always watch your show on HGTV on Saturday mornings, too. I think you are just SUPER!
While the first part may be a little smokey, the very last sentence is true. Don’t tell anybody I said it, ok?
(Your friend, “Xeriscaped and Cacti-ed and mesa-fied in the barren Four-corners.”) š š :0)
Love your work.
Cassandra
@Yummy… you’re so darn goofy. It would be swell to have a Saturday morning show on HGTV, as long as it was taped earlier in the week. And xeriscaping is something I actually miss about living out west. You try something like that in the Northeast and you get the strangest look.
@Cassandra… thanks! Drop in any time!
Oooh, a new word for me (and a great piece of art for it too) – shame it’s too long for Scrabble!
your work is great absolutely stunning, thanks for sharing
@Catherine… LOL I love words. I used to read dictionaries for fun. My father thought I was strange, but still encouraged it. I was reading, after all. I’ve been contemplating another alphabet series of art for nearly a year now, but haven’t bothered looking for a new ‘X’ word. After all, I’ve already found the best one!
@Jasko… Thank you so much! I’m glad you like it!